Jan-Feb 2007

LATEST IN HD News | Reviews Consumer Front Forum | HD Tips highdef.com

J a n / F eb 2007 $5.95 DEFINING HIGH DEFINITION

DIGITAL INTERMEDIATES ON A BUDGET

PLUS NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 3D by David L. Symmes

SOUND SPEED… CAMERA SPEED… CAPTURE SPEED! an article by Dan Coplan, OSC

SUPER 16 FOR HD BROADCAST commentary by David Heuring PBTS-0070_HDX900_HD.qxp 12/6/06 2:33 PM Page 1

Reality check - With 1080i, 720p, 24p and 25p capabilities, the HDX900 is perfect for long-form �� HD programming such as reality shows, documentaries, music videos, concerts, cable network �� shows and many more. ��

�� when full HD production quality counts.

Why risk your valuable footage with distribution format

video? The high-performance AJ-HDX900 2/3" camcorder

offers 4:2:2 sampling and intra-frame recording at 100 Mbps

in 11 high definition formats that hold up through layers of

special effects, graphic overlays and constant editing and AJ-HDX900 processing. Collaboration and content exchange are DVCPRO HD Camcorder Its native 16:9, progressive 2/3" 3-CCDs and 14-bit essential in sports production, cable shows and reality processing assure stunning, pristine HD video. Highly TV - and nothing maintains the original image integrity versatile – records in 720 at 24/25/30/50/60p and 1080 at 24/25/30p and 50/60i. Records up to 33 minutes on and sound quality like DVCPRO HD. a single cassette. IEEE 1394 interface for easy transfers.

For more information visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast or call 1.800.528.8601

FEATURE Digital Intermediates on a Budget 8 by Bob Fisher

Three Networks, Three Versions, One Vendor 13 by Karen Lynn Berg 8 HD Tips: Shooting in Louisiana 14 by B. Sean Fairburn

Galápagos on National Geographic 16 by William Wheeler

Night of the Living Dead, 3D 17 by Daniel L. Symmes

17 The World is Opening Up to HDTV 22 by Clint Stinchcomb

Sound Speed…Camera Speed…Capture Speed! 23 by Dan Coplan, SOC

HDTV Forum: Samsung LED Light by 2008 26 by Steve Sechrist

Capturing Wildlife with Versatile HD Lens 27 by Bob Poole 23 Paris Hilton Goes Mobile 28 by Harlin Hailey

HD Tech: Budgeting Your Project’s Disk Space 30 by Lowell Kay

From HD to the Web 31 by Jama Green

Super 16 for HD Broadcast 32 32 by David Heuring

30 to 24 on AJA KONA 34 by Karen Raz

Vanderpool Shoots AG-HVX200 35 by Brian Cali

Focused on Rush HD 36 by Rob Faris

38 HDTV, the Consumer Front 37 by Dale Cripps

Battleground: The Art of War 38 by Jennie Taylor

Vol. 9, Issue 1 | HighDef Magazine is published bi-monthly, free for professionals in all areas of video and film production, nationally by American Press Services, 2247 15th Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119. PUBLISHER: Conrad W. Denke EDITOR: David W. Thompson PRODUCTION: Gina Griffin Hanzsek DISPLAY ADVERTISING: Call David Thompson at 1-888-282-1776 or e-mail [email protected]. Deadline for advertising mechanicals is fifteen(15) days prior to publication date. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms, are available on our website: www.HighDef.com. Send address changes to: HighDef Magazine, 2247 15th Ave. West, Seattle, WA 98119. PRINTER: Banta Publications Group, bantapublications.com NEWS & PRODUCTS

at the locations coming from strategi- 1 BEYOND HD OCTOFLEX2 the Sony SRW-1 digital 4:4:4 recorder cally situated control rooms in the new 1 Beyond, Inc. announced the HD directly to the top or to the tail of the 600,000-square-foot facility located at OctoFlex2™, the industry’s first 8 new system, eliminating the need for Pennsylvania Avenue and 6th Street, full core processor system running cables between camera and recorder. N.W. All locations will receive the feeds Windows XP designed specifically for To make the camera “film user-friend- over optical fiber to ensure the reten- video professionals. Recent bench- ly,” Sony has designed the F23 body tion of the high image quality is unaf- mark testing showed that rendering to be compatible with a variety of film fected by external factors despite the an Adobe After Effects project using camera accessories, including bridge extended distances. one of the most expensive competitive plates, matte boxes and follow focus units, which can be attached to the unit TSN AND HARRIS VELOCITYNX systems took 16.7 minutes, compared PANASONIC 24P ON P2 HD to only 2.3 minutes using the 1 Beyond without modification. When used with At TSN, a Canadian sports nework, CAMCORDER HD OctoFlex2 8 processor system with the Sony SRW-1 VTR, the F23 can cap- the Harrris Corp.’s VelocityNX is used Panasonic announced that its AJ- the Personal Render Farm software. ture and record variable speed images to edit native SD and HD files stored CENTURY XTREME FISHEYE PANASONIC P2 MOBILE HPX2000 P2 HD shoulder-mount Available immediately with prices start- from 1p to 60p (1p to 30fps at 4:4:4 in a Harris Nexio shared storage FOR HVX200 camcorder, available in January 2007, ing at just $6,595 (or $7,995 including and 1p to 60 fps at 4:2:2) at the full HD RECORDER environment. The new HD installation Now users of the Panasonic AG- Panasonic announced the availabil- will include 24p frame-rate capabil- 1.75TB HD disk array), this powerful resolution of 1920x1080; this allows includes three VelocityNX workstations HVX200, as well as the DVX100 and ity of the AJ-HPM100, dubbed the ity in addition to optional support new system is totally scaleable. users to “undercrank” or “overcrank” and is used for sports highlight edit- 100A/B camcorders can enjoy the ultra- P2 Mobile, the first portable P2 HD of the advanced independent frame to produce special motion effects coming. VelocityNX provides users with a ® wide field of view and pronounced bar- recorder/player. With its extensive compression codec, AVC-Intra. As DVDO ISCAN™ VP50 monly used in high-end production. toolset for both editing and creation rel distortion of the broadest fisheye functionality and the reliability of solid- the first shoulder-mount camcorder in Anchor Bay announced that its iScan™ of effects. It can provide real-time mul- ® on the market. Schneider Optics intro- state recording and playback, the P2 Panasonic’s P2 HD series, the multi-for- VP50 — part of its DVDO line of high- ticamera editing, color correction and duces two new versions of the Century Mobile is the “bridge” that allows mat AJ-HPX2000 features a native HD definition video processing systems accommodate multiple resolutions. Xtreme Fisheye custom tailored to professionals to work in both the AV progressive 2/3” 3-CCD system that — has been chosen by the North work with these cameras. Employing and IT worlds, or in high definition or offers superb recording in 1080i, 720p, American HD DVD Promotional Group, the highest grade optics, this HD qual- standard definition, and links the P2 480i, 576i and in a total of 17 high defi- Inc. to supply 1080p/24 signal process- ity optic locks neatly onto the bayonet file format and base-band video. In its nition and standard definition formats. ing technology for its traveling home theater demonstration. The HD DVD mount at the front of the camcorder compact, magnesium die-cast body, CAREER TOOLS AT NEXT TV Mobile Experience Tour is traveling city lens to provide an approximately 160º the P2 Mobile features multi-format The Academy of Television Arts and to city throughout North America in an horizontal angle of view (180º when recording and playback with a six-slot Sciences in Los Angeles held its “HD DVD experience on wheels” to measured diagonally). P2 card reader, versatile inputs/outputs (including HD-SDI, IEEE 1394, USB 2.0), annual day-long conference entitled allow consumers a chance to experi- PANASONIC DEAL WITH an SD memory card slot, broadcast- Next TV. The event brought keynote ence the new HD DVD technology at PANAVISION AND DELUXE sessions, special guest speakers its very best. On the tour the VP50 is DIGIDIOPTERS™ FOR HD level editing controls including a job/ Panasonic announced an agree- and new product demos to those in being used in a home theater system LENSES shuttle dial and audio faders, and a 9- ment with Panavision and Deluxe attendance. Conrad Denke, publisher to feed a 1080p/48fps signal from an Band Pro Film & Digital introduced inch widescreen HD LCD monitor with Entertainment Services Group to sup- of Highdef Magazine moderated a HD DVD player to a Marantz VP11-S1 the Carl Zeiss DigiDiopters. This set stereo speakers. The P2 Mobile offers ply the companies with more than $2 panel entitled: “Highdef and HDV 1080p DLP front projector. of high quality diopters in +1 and +2 the benefits of solid-state performance million in high definition products over Revolution 2006 Update.” Panelists magnification is optimized to work in with on-the-go recording, editing and the next year. The pact means that included: Mike DesRoches, System conjunction with Zeiss and will also playback in the world’s leading video Panasonic’s leading high definition Engineer, Sony Electronics; Doug work well with other high-quality 2/3” formats, including up/down/cross con- products – including cameras, record- Leighton, Los Angeles Sales Account HD lenses. Ideal for extreme close version between 1080i and 720p and MOBILE STUDIOS SELECTS ers, production monitors and plasmas Manager, Panasonic; Mel Medina, ups or wide angle shots with a shallow between high definition and standard HVS-500HD HANABI SWITCHER - will be widely available at Panavision’s Senior Product Manager, Broadcast & depth of field, Carl Zeiss DigiDiopters definition. Mobile Studios, developers of fly pack and Deluxe Entertainment’s operations Production Systems, Sony Electronics; attach easily to the front of the lens systems, have selected FOR-A’s HVS- worldwide. HD VIDEO TRANSPORT Chris J. Mellor, Digital Image to provide increased close-focus 500HS Hanabi 1 M/E HD switcher, SYSTEM Technician, Matrix.TV, Tim Smith, NEW SONY 1080P CINEALTA range and magnification capability. as the heart of the company’s new- Streambox Inc. has produced a new Training Manager, Technical Marketing CAMERA DigiDiopters employ a unique, achro- est mobile production console. The FUJINON HD TELEPHOTO LENS matic dual-lens assembly to minimize video transport system for high-defini- & Sales, Video Division, Canon U.S.A.; Sony rolled out a new 1080p high-end MS7HD is a portable, live production Fujinon’s new XA88x8.8BESM HD tele- color fringing and spherical aberration tion and news gathering applications. and Craig Yanagi, National Marketing digital camera, targeting television system capable of multi-camera shoot- photo lens features 88x magnification --common problems with traditional The SBT3-9100 is designed for end-to- Manger, Creation Products JVC. and film production. As part of the ing, targeted for use by corporations, with the widest focal length of 8.8mm single lens diopters. Carefully selected end HD transport and delivers 1080i company’s CineAlta camera line, the ‘NEWSEUM’ USES OPTICOMM houses of worship, universities, sporting to 777mm telephoto – making it the optical glass elements and the Zeiss and 720p broadcast video and audio F23 supports 4:4:4 1920x1080 RGB The Newseum, an interactive museum event producers, government video widest long lens available today. It is proprietary T* anti-reflective coat- over IP-based networks and satellite. imaging, using three 2.2 megabit 2/3- in Washington D.C., funded by the producers, and independent produc- also available with Fujinon’s patented ing -- the same coating applied to The new encoder/decoder is based inch progressive CCD imagers and a Freedom Forum foundation, will tion companies. It is the latest addition Precision Focus Assist (PFA). Precision their DigiPrime®, and DigiZoom™ on the Streambox ACT-L3 codec and 14-bit A/D converter. The system sup- deliver content to various theaters, to Mobile Studios’ line of portable pro- Focus Assist is Fujinon’s built-in feature lenses -- reduce light loss and flare operates at data rates from 512 Kbps ports 1080/23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p, projectors and digital screens through- duction consoles used by organizations that addresses precise focus issues in while improving transmission for crisp to 20 Mbps. It features dual Gigabit 50p, 59.94p, 50i and 59.94i formats. out the facility with high-definition such as Boeing, Dow Chemical, NASA, HDTV production stemming from the images with saturated colors and accu- Ethernet ports, allowing multiplex/ The camera shares the same design video quality, up to HD progressive at Cendant Corporation, and the U.S. format’s shallow depth of focus and rate blacks. Weighing about 10 ounces demultiplex configurations, and either features as Sony’s 1920x1080 RGB 4:4:4 1920 x 1200p with Opticomm’s single- Navy. The HVS-500HS is an economical, the lack of size and resolution in cam- (285g) each, Zeiss DigiDiopters can port can be designated as a manage- HDC-F950--also part of the CineAlta fiber DVI-1000 system. The museum compact and self-contained switcher era viewfinders. At 258 (H) x 270 (W) x be attached to the camera lens - or to ment port. HD product line--along with several new will feature six levels of displays and that accepts analog and digital HD and 625mm (L) – with PFA, the XA88x8.8 is each other - via a single thumbscrew. features, including the ability to dock experiences. Visitors can view content SD formats –with no external conver- also extremely compact. sion required. 6 7 Digital Intermediates on a Budget

Photo courtesy of Sinner Film Production, LLC. © 2006 Sinner Film Production, LLC. b y B o b F i s h e r ilmmakers are exploring a new path that enables them to take advantage of the flexibility use sub-sampled chrominance channels that are fine for broadcast, but don’t offer the range of offered by digital intermediate (DI) technology on lower budget, independent features. contrast and colors cinematographers use to create nuanced images for feature films.” A scene from Sinner. FOne of the promising breakthroughs is the addition of inDI™ to the menu of DI services The following are verbal snapshots of The Nines (working title), The Dukes and Sinner from offered by LaserPacific in Hollywood. the perspectives of the cinematographers who used inDI technology to time and put finishing “The inDI system enables us to utilize the economies of a tape-based HD workflow for touches on the looks of these independent features. lower budget films,” says Glenn Kennel, vice president and general manager of Motion Picture The Nines was scripted by John August, whose screenwriting credits include Charlie’s Services for LaserPacific. “The film is scanned with a Spirit DataCine and converted to HDSR Angels, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc. It was his second turn at the helm. format (1920 by 1080 RGB 4:4:4), which incorporates advanced data compression technology, The story is divided into three parts with the same three actors portraying different characters resulting in cleaner signals with truer colors. The high definition D-5 and HDCAM formats (4:2:2) whose names have the same initials. 8 9 Photo by Douglas Kirkland 2004 Kirkland Douglas by Photo Photo by Christel Golden

“John wanted distinctly different looks I wished to focus on in advance, and Mike, for each story segment,” says cinematogra- John and I got it all done in just a half day. pher Nancy Schreiber, ASC. “The TV show “Most of the work in the DI room has a video look with less nuanced colors and involved the 35 mm segment of the film, (L to R) 1st AC Josh Harrison handheld, fluid camera movement that is not which was a very intense part of the story. We and Michael Goi, ASC polished but documentary-like. The other crushed the blacks and desaturated colors shooting a scene for The sequences have more controlled filmic pro- into a monochromatic and somewhat cool Dukes. duction values.” palette, while the Super 16 was shot and Schreiber shot the first part in Super 16 remained warm in post. The video portion Nancy Schreiber, ASC format, the TV show segment in 24P stan- stayed more neutral.” dard digital video, and the third sequence Schreiber concludes, “The inDI process is on three-perf 35 mm film. Schreiber recorded an affordable option for low-budget, indepen- images on a variety of KODAK VISION2 dent films. My advice for directors is to bring stocks (5205 and 5218 in 35 mm format, and the cinematographer onboard before you 7201, 7205, 7218 for the Super 16 sequences), make decisions about shooting formats, and depending on lighting and settings. She used whether and where to do DIs. And definitely a Panasonic AJ-SDX900 camera to shoot the test beforehand.” TV show segment. After graduating from the national film Schreiber conferred with dailies timer and television school in London, David Kerr Greg Lang in advance, and they stayed concentrated on shooting music videos and in touch throughout the 23-day produc- commercials. That’s how he met director Marc tion schedule, so he was in sync with her Benardout. Sinner is their first co-venture intentions. The inDI was done in two steps. on a long-form movie. The film was shot at Schreiber initially timed The Nines on a CRT practical locations in Los Angeles. The pro- monitor in collaboration with colorist Pam ducers originally planned offline video editing Moore, whom she had worked with last year coupled with negative cutting and traditional on a Showtime pilot. Schreiber put final timing at an optical lab. They shifted gears touches on the look in a cinema-like environ- after LaserPacific demonstrated the afford- ment with her usual DI colorist Mike Sowa at ability and benefits of the inDI process, which LaserPacific. The images were projected on included an ability to use (Autodesk) Flame a 33-foot-wide screen, which enabled her to and Avid Nitris, as well as Chyron software for see how the film would play for audiences. titling. “Color correcting in a normal room had lim- They shot Sinner in 17 days in the three- ited capabilities, so I pinpointed those areas perf Super 35 film format, which trimmed 10 DI on a CRT screen as a concession to the budget, but Benardout and the producers decided that it was important for Kerr to see the images in a cinema-like environment. “I really enjoyed working with Mike Sowa, the colorist, because he was in tune with the project. It was wonderful to see the images on a 33-by-13-foot high screen. The inDI process can be a very powerful tool for cinematographers,” Kerr concludes. Michael Goi, ASC, was introduced to Robert Davi when the actor was preparing to direct The Dukes. It was his first turn at the helm. The story is about a couple of 1960s doo-wop singers who have fallen upon hard times. It was produced on a sparse $600,000 budget at locations in Los Angeles, which enabled Davi to draw upon a deep pool of acting talent, including Chazz Palminteri, Joseph Campanella, Bruce Weitz and Peter Bogdanovich. “During our first conversations Robert made it clear that he wanted an organic feeling that reinforces the emotions of the story,” Goi says. “I had recently shot Red Water, a television movie in Super 16, so I felt confi- Three Networks, Three Versions, dent that we would be able to give him the look he wanted, while moving quickly and staying on budget. “I had some concerns One Vendor about doing the DI in HD format and record- by Karen Lynn Berg ing out to 35 mm film. My feeling is that you want the highest resolution master possible, but after I shot a test and we saw an inDI ll Mobile Video has long been a pro- 10 foot wide digital Studer Vista 8, with over demonstration we decided to go ahead. The vider of mobile production trucks 600 inputs/outputs. look of the process was very forgiving to more for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. One minor problem: Titan, was booked mature actors.” A However for 2006 a first occurred. All three to supply the production facilities for CBS’s Goi emphasizes that knowing there Photo by Christel Golden networks licensed to carry the parade (CBS, The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show taping at would be a digital intermediate didn’t change NBC and Telemundo) called upon All Mobile Los Angeles’ Kodak Theater scheduled to negative and front-end lab costs by 25 per- the way he approached shooting The Dukes. Video as primary vendor for their remote pro- finish just 48 hours before Titan would need cent without compromising image quality. He “I felt it was important to get the colors and duction unit requirements. to park at Herald’s Square in New York City. covered the action with a Panaflex Millennium contrast we wanted on the negative, but it AMV’s Director of Rental Services, Tom How do you get two 80,000 lbs tractor-trailers Director-actor Robert Davi camera, and achieved as much as possible in did give me a bit of creative freedom know- D’Angelo says, “we knew accepting the posi- from LA to New York in 48 hours? D’Angelo in a scene from The Dukes camera in terms of exposing and manipulat- ing that I could put some finishing touches on tion of facilities provider for CBS, NBC and responds, “… you double and triple team shot by Michael Goi, ASC. ing the negative for the envisioned looks. the look in DI,” he says. “We shot the film in Telemundo would be challenging. Including drivers. It’s 2,800 miles. If you drive straight AMV’s Titan parks in “Sinner is a dark and visually intrigu- 25 days in all kinds of light, usually covering various pre-tapes the three networks would through without stopping for any reason you front of Macy’s. ing film,” he says. “Due to the financial scenes with two Panavision Elaine cameras.” require integration of forty-three cameras in can just make it under the speed limit.” constraints and speed with which we had to Goi continues, “The inDI process cali- seven production and support trucks. All three shows went off as planned Santa’s appearance marks shoot each day, it was not always possible to brates the telecine like a scanner, transferring To make this possible, All Mobile needed without a hitch” comments D’Angelo, “serv- the end of the Parade fine tune lighting or shoot at exactly the right the full range of the negative film. A ‘print one of its largest mobile units on the road: ing three different clients at three different and the beginning of the time of day in the right weather conditions. I film’ lookup table is applied for the dailies Titan. With twenty-four cameras, twenty- locations along the parade route, with seven Holiday season. was confident we could put those touches on display. I saw a few days of dailies projected four tape and four EVS capability, Titan is a AMV mobile units and the substantial amount in DI.” in LaserPacific’s large theater to get a sense of production behemoth. Cameras are the new of ancillary resources dedicated to this event The negative was transferred to HDSR what the quality was like and how everything Sony HDC-1500 1080/60p capable systems. was certainly a challenge, but when consider- tape with colorist David Perkins providing was holding up, but because of the pace of VTR’s are the new Sony SRW-5500 HDCAM ing the result I think we all have reason to be dailies initially in HDCAM and then in DVD production, we mainly got them in HD and SR models and the 130’ square ft audio room thankful.” HD formats. They originally planned to time the HD then DVD formats.” (the largest of any TV truck) boasts a 72 fader, 12 13 Tips b y hd B . SEAN FAIRBURN SOC Shooting in Louisiana

Working in Louisiana on HD features is a check regularly to look for drift. lot easier with great support from your rental 4. Write down the hours on the camera house. Getting the gear list in advance and heads and if over 500 hours you will be doing a solid thorough prep make the jobs more vulnerable to RF Dropout. The less problematic. heads need to be replaced or get a new I just worked on a small feature supplied body before taking the camera into harsh by Panavision in New Orleans where the conditions. relationship between Kelli Bingham in New Orleans and David Dodson in Woodland Hills 5. Even if you suspect a problem, contact the was so good it seemed like they were in the rental house and give them a heads up same building. so they can be proactive in helping you B. Sean Fairburn, SOC Getting extra pieces to choose from in the replace gear. Director of Photography, first shipment also keeps the cost down to a The Evertz 7700 or smaller HDSDI distribu- Role Model minimum. tion amplifier (DA) is a very handy tool to be Productions, LLC. Plugging in and turning on every piece of able to manage all the signals to scopes and [email protected] gear and cable will also keep you from get- multiple monitors that may be on set. Seanfairburn.com ting hosed in the field under pressure. Have fun and God Bless. HD 818-621-3912 Working in humidity and cold can be hard Local 600, on cameras. So here are Agent Steve Jacob, 323-460-4767 a few tips: 1. Do not leave tapes in cameras overnight.

Plantation home in 2. When turning cam- Luling, Louisiana eras off for lunch showing the video or to move to next village during shooting setup put them in of The Staircase. SAVE mode to get them off the heads. Keeping them on and in Save will keep them warm but con- serve power. 3. Have a good Backfocus Chart

(by DSC Labs) with Fairburn Sean B. you at all times and Photo by Photo 14 Night of the Living Dead

by Daniel L. Symmes 3D i, I’m Andrew Parke. I’m the Director During post, the footage is eventually trans- of Photography on an independent coded to another format, namely unsqueezed Hfeature that will be shot in 3D.” So was 1920x1080 HD. the start of a phone call in January ’05. Andy The anaglyph Natural Vision process was was researching 3D production for Director chosen from the start as being the only viable Jeff Broadstreet’s new horror film Night of 3D method for mass DVD distribution as well Barb (Brianna Brown) the Living Dead 3D and contacted the “usual as theatrical. The anaglyph principle has been battles one of the suspects.” understood since about 1858 and is not com- undead (Marcia Ann Several HD cameras were considered. plex, though it is rather exacting. Stereo pairs Burrs) in Night of the I mentioned to Parke that I had designed a (the left and right eye views) always need to Living Dead 3D. new rig based on the Sony HVR-Z1. Parke be “encoded” for print as, for example, left was immediately interested. One point of image printed with cyan ink, and the right considerable discussion was this camera’s image red ink. When viewed through glasses

Photo © Sam Abell Abell © Sam Photo HDV format. True HD has an image that is having a blue lens over the left eye and red 1920x1080 pixels, and it is generally preferred over the right, the blue will only see the red to be 24 frame progressive (24p). The HDV ink – the right eye through the red lens, only format Sony chose is a virtual 1440x1080 (1.33 blue ink. Thus the two views are “channeled” Galápagos horizontal squeeze) interlaced, at either 25 fps exclusively to your eyes, and the brain sees on National Geographic (PAL) or 29.97 (NTSC) (50i, 60i respectively). 3D. I prefer polarized projection over ana-

by William Wheeler

oar high above the ers and offer a new understand- added Morris. “We could catch islands, creep slowly ing into the savage environment up close the marine iguanas Salong the coast, dive into of the islands.” fleeing from the diving hawk as the fiery mouth of an erupting Almost three years in the they descended to capture the volcano — visit the islands of making, with more than 300 baby hawks’ meal. Viewers can the Galápagos, where animals hours of high-definition footage, actually see each grain of sand struggle to survive the unforgiv- Galápagos is the first in-depth, fall under the iguana’s claws as ing climate and rugged land- full-access film made in over 20 it races across the rocky coast, scape. For the producers of the years about these extraordinary and feel the fear as it fails to National Geographic Channel islands. The three-hour special, escape the flying predator.” special Galápagos, this unique which premieres on Sunday, “I have always dreamed archipelago presented a rare March 18, 2007, on the National of having an opportunity to opportunity to film the bizarre Geographic Channel, showcases spend time filming the exqui- island inhabitants in HD. rarely seen animals, many of site and fascinating creatures “The film focuses on the which presented great technical of the Galápagos,” added natural history of the islands,” challenges, such as deep-sea Morris. “I think the clean, crisp commented Galápagos pro- plankton illuminating the night pictures that we shot in HD will ducer Patrick Morris. “With sea with their underwater light allow viewers to appreciate the HD, we were able to capture show. beauty of these islands as if they sequences at dawn and dusk “We watched the nest of a were visiting themselves.” HD — that we would have missed Galápagos hawk on the island of Consumers can call 1-877-777- with traditional film. You can’t Santa Fe for three weeks as the NGCHD to find out if they receive anticipate these chance animal birds feasted on marine iguanas NGC HD or to request service movements that captivate view- protecting their eggs below,” from their operator. Photo courtesy Lux Digital Pictures © 2006 16 17 © 2006 © 2006 Lux Digital Pictures Pictures Digital Lux Photo courtesy Photo

glyph, but there are few silver screens in the- cameras, compare them and tell you if they aters, leaving anaglyph as the only practical were close enough in sync for acceptable 3D way to get real 3D in a theater near you. use. I discovered an existing unit that, with In mid-March, Parke shot a test with an slight modifications, provided even better F-900 and a Z1 side-by-side for comparison. precision, typically to less than a millisecond Night of the Living The resulting tapes were handed to CFI/ sync difference. Dead 3D stereographer Technicolor for output to film. The two ver- Professional filming requires follow focus. Dan Symmes on location sions were alternated and split-screened. When we got cameras in hand, we found the with his HD3Cam. Scenes were shot exterior night and low-key focus was perpetual (no stops) which ultimate- interior (that being the dominant setting of ly presented the biggest speed bump. Gears the film); challenging conditions for digital were already on the market, as were follow video. When the film was viewed over and focus attachments, but these wouldn’t work over, all concerned were amazed. While the for two cameras that also needed to move in F-900 is a superior camera, the differences relation to one another. Issues about weight compared to the Z1 were such that non-tech- precluded the use of conventional focus nical observers simply wouldn’t know the dif- motors and the attendant electronics. We also ference. found that the focus was not reliable, with The decision was finalized and Midnight regard to the physical rotation of the lens bar- Movies Entertainment contracted Dimension rel and the distance readout. We continued 3 to provide a Z1 3D system. exploring and finally used the LANC port on 3D requires two synchronized cameras. the camera to adjust focus, with mixed results. That specifically means they need to be gen- The rig was completed for the most part locked, so the “shutters” open and close at about a week before shooting and a quick the same time. Like all “prosumer” cameras, test was shot, encoded in Natural Vision, and the Z1’s lack genlock. Development on the output to film. The overall consensus was we synchronization led to a “black box” that were not only in the ball park, we were round- could look at the video coming out of the two ing third base. The system was christened the 18 others) was Steadicam great, Jerry Hill. We had both been looking into a practical Steadicam system for years. This appeared to be it. The HD3Cam was designed to be as compact and light as possible, but it still weighs over 30 lbs. Most significantly, because of its design, it’s very top

heavy. Using my partner Jerry © 2006 Hill’s own sled design (the Jerry Rig) was crucial in making all this possible. “I worked close with Dan and Andy to Lux Digital Pictures Pictures Digital Lux try and walk through the shot first”, says Hill. Another matter decided

by Parke prior to production courtesy Photo was his determination to shoot hand held. I added hand grips and a shoulder pad to the Steadicam unit. In spite of my reservations, Parke did hand held often and, while I don’t recommend it, I have to say he got some really great shots that make us feel we are in the action. On opening night of World 3D Film Expo II at the © 2006 © 2006 famous Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Night of the Living Dead 3D had its U.S. premiere and was seen in dual projec- © 2006 © 2006 tor, polarized 3D. All humble- Lux Digital Pictures Pictures Digital Lux ness aside, it looked fabulous. Noted 3D film historian Ray “3D” Zone, said: “The whole Photo courtesy Photo

pic had great 3D with a taste- Pictures Digital Lux ful use of the stereo window. HD3Cam™, based on our previous standard conception that the camera lenses should be Anaglyph also worked very definition camera, the D3Cam™. separated a distance (interaxial) similar to our well.” He should know. On 16 June production commenced eyes (interocular). This is a leading cause of I cannot say enough courtesy Photo Sid Haig as “Gerald Tovar, at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los eyestrain in 3D films made since the 1960’s. about Andy Parke’s dedica- Jr.” in Night of the Living Angeles. The entire day was exterior, at one The HD3Cam has a continuously-variable tion to high standards which Top: Steadicam operator Jerry Hill backs away from a menacing zombie Dead 3D. location, and things went very well. We then interaxial range from 0” (no 3D at all) to nearly led to something now greater through a tight doorway in the 1897 farmhouse used in Night of the were moved to a farm house northwest of 6”, depending on focal length. than the sum of its parts. On Living Dead 3D. The new horror film features extensive handheld and Hollywood. From day one, it was Broadstreet and the last day of production, steadicam 3D photography, a first in 3D features. True stereo (“three dimension”) requires Parke’s focus to achieve a “film look.” To help Director Jeff Broadstreet came photography from a minimum of two, hori- this, Parke decided to shoot 50i, which allows up to me and said “…and we Above: Director Jeff Broadstreet (with headphones, looking at monitor) zontally separated viewpoints. The camera a film-like shutter speed of a 50th of a second. never waited for 3D.” directing Night of the Living Dead 3D on location at the Angelus must imitate that our eyes are horizontally By shooting at 50i, deinterlaced becomes 25 That was the finest thing Rosedale Cemetery near downtown Los Angeles (note the dual HD displaced. From the earliest days of stereo fps (PAL). he could say. monitors, for each camera on the 3D rig). photography to this day, it is a common mis- My partner on this project (as on many 20 21 The World is Opening Up to by Clint Stinchcomb HDTV here has been a lot Scandinavia. European satel- enhance the viewing experi- of talk about HDTV lite broadcaster SES Astra ence. Discovery HD, the com- Treaching the “tipping launched over 40 HD channels pany’s international HD net- point” in the U.S. lately. When this year. In fact, the number work, first launched in Japan the Consumer Electronics of HD channels in Europe is and South Korea in 2005, and Association came out with estimated to top 160 by 2010. has also been rolled out in a report that forecast 2006 Discovery was the first Canada, Germany, Austria, would be the year that high- global broadcaster to step- the UK, Ireland, Poland, the definition television sets up and offer a 24/7 HD net- Netherlands and Scandinavia, would outsell analog TVs, it work when the industry was making Discovery the leading gave programmers and cable concerned about the lack of international provider of HD and satellite operators a lot high-definition content. This networks in the world. to think about. With DTV set was Discovery HD Theater, The HDTV revolution prices at about half of what which launched in the U.S. in is here… and the world has they were a year ago, the June 2002. John Hendricks, tuned in. HD average consumer no longer Discovery’s founder and chair- Clint Stinchcomb is Executive Vice just has to admire the superior man, was an early believer President, HDTV and New Media, picture and sound quality in in how HD technology could Discovery Communications their local electronics store Sound Speed…Camera Speed… – they can bring it home. To date, interest in HDTV has been rather slow Beautifully dressed Capture Speed! to develop in Europe due to Brazilian samba the quality of the PAL video dancer at Carnivale format over NTSC and the by Dan Coplan, SOC from Discovery preference for smaller TV sets Atlas HD. in most markets. However, the move towards digital conversion in Europe combined with .L. Stine is one of the world’s best-sell- Cut Pro via a tether which included AC power, the increased availability of ing children’s authors. He specializes HD-SDI, and the Master Control Unit. The HD sets, and the upcoming Rin scary stories. R.L. Stine’s Haunting HD signal fed into the DIT station, run by Jay sporting events such as the Hours Volume 1: Don’t Think About It is a fea- Nefcy, SOC. From there, it was distributed to A master of the school 2008 Olympics in Beijing, have ture film that has recently completed principal a video village as a downconverted NTSC sig- cafeteria is revealed. converged to create the per- photography. Produced by Universal Pictures nal and to Apple’s Final Cut Pro for full resolu- fect market conditions to fuel and The Hatchery, this project was shot at tion capture. This capture station included a consumer enthusiasm. several locations around Pittsburgh, PA. separate workstation for each camera. The Cable and satellite opera- Two Clairmont Camera modified Sony workstations operated independently from tors around the world have F900’s worked side-by-side and as separate each other but were networked to allow file taken notice and are launch- units. I operated the A-camera/Steadicam sharing. ing more HD services every camera outfitted with a Canon 4.7-52mm Apple Macintosh 2.66 Ghz Dual-Core day. Pro7/Sat1 and Premiere T2.1 lens. Brian Osmond operated B-camera Intel Xeon workstations with 5GB of RAM in Germany and Austria have set up with a tighter and larger Fujinon 10- served as the main processors. Kona 3 launched a number of HD 100mm T1.8 lens. DP Jacques Haitkin hand- cards were utilized to ingest the 10-bit 4:2:2 services and BSkyB introduced picked the glass for maximum clarity. 1080/23.98 HD-SDI signal. Each workstation its first HDTV services earlier The unique aspect of this production wrote to 700GB Firewire 800 hard drives as this year. We’ve also seen HD was the manner in which data were captured. well as a third drive used to back up the work transmissions from TPS and Both cameras recorded to tape as backup (8- and travel between production and post pro- Canal Plus in France, Sky Italia bit 3:1:1) including sync sound. Master data duction in Hollywood. in Italy and Canal Digital in were captured concurrently to Apple’s Final “Roll sound! Sound speeding! Roll cam- Photo courtesy Discovery HD Theater HD Discovery courtesy Photo 22 23 eras! A speed! B speed! Roll capture! Capture Beyond my vest the thin BNC cable was con- speed! Mark it!” nected to a more robust cable routed to the The additional step of waiting for capture DIT station. Camera operator speed was a bit of a hassle, but the compro- Production was typical with the excep- Dan Coplan and mise was well worth it. We had full resolution tion of the cutting edge technology used to lead actors discover playback instantly. We could review takes capture the material. There were a few bumps the horror of the from previous days instantly. And the full reso- here and there, but the workflow and com- monster’s lair. lution material was sent to post production puter systems used to capture the full resolu- overnight so it could be edited while we were tion material was overwhelmingly reliable. The still in production. pros of recording a higher quality signal and There was a significant amount of instant access for both production and post Steadicam in this movie. Tethering is second production outweighed the cons of running only to wind on a Steadicam operator’s list extra cable and the additional steps necessary of things to avoid, however the advantage of when rolling takes. The workflow and technol- HD-SDI is that video, audio, and timecode all ogy used for this feature is predictable of the travel down a single BNC cable. I used very future in a very exciting way. HD thin BNC cable which ran from the back of Dan Coplan is a Los Angeles based the camera to my vest where it was velcroed cinematographer, steadicam operator, and DIT. with slack to minimize the effect on the rig. www.dancoplan.com 24

2007 Hi Def color outlines.indd 1 12/21/2006 4:25:54 PM Capturing Forum Wildlifewith Versatile HD Lens b y STEVE SECHRIST hdtv by Bob Poole ince January of 2006, that took me once again to I shoot a combination of I traveled four times Africa, this time to elevations wildlife and people and often Sto West Africa from of 13,000 feet on the Semien shoot hand-held with a wide- my home in Sun Valley, Mountains of Ethiopia to film angle zoom lens. In many Samsung LED Light by 2008 Idaho to shoot a National Gelada baboons. This film will cases I will suddenly have Geographic Special about also take me to locations in to switch to a long lens and the wildlife in the National Asia, South America, Europe shoot from a tripod to capture Parks of Gabon. The film is a and the USA. It is being pro- wildlife behavior. In the past I Recently I picked up a co-production with the BBC duced for a Thirteen WNET have been burdened by heavy small mention of a story Samsung SyncMaster XL20 and NHK and has a work- Nature series for PBS. lenses and their support sys- in the Korean language Contrast ratio 1,000:1 ing title of Gabon: Eden on The work has been made tems that could easily take five Digital Times on the heels of the Edge. Additionally this easier with my new lightweight minutes to change. With the Samsung Electronics launch Brightness 250 cd/m2 year I worked with Moore & Fujinon HA25x16.5BERD HD new Fujinon lens I can switch of Korea’s first 20.1-inch LCD Response time 8ms Moore Productions on a PBS telephoto zoom lens. At 6.5 from a wide-angle to the long monitor using an LED-BLU Nature film called Christmas in pounds, the lens is half the lens in a matter of seconds. (backlight unit), the com- Viewing angle 176-degrees Yellowstone. Between trips to weight of similar long zoom HD pany also announced it would Africa, I also shot a Discovery lenses and doesn’t require a switch to LED illumination for Color gamut 114% NTSC (CIE 1976) Bob Poole is an Idaho-based HD Theater piece entitled bulky support system when all LCD monitors by 2008. directory of photography who Source: Company, compiled by Insight Media Wild National Parks produced mounted on my Sony F900 While the major focus shoots wildlife, science, sports by Bellevue Entertainment. HD camera. The lens has a of the news story was on the and adventure television around I just returned home from a zoom range from 16.5mm to speeds and feeds of the new This is clearly a quality ventional CCFL (cold cathode the world. For more informa- shoot with Pangolin Pictures 413mm with an F-stop of 2.8. tion, visit www.poolefilms.com Steve Sechrist is LED backlit SyncMaster XL20 play for Samsung as the com- fluorescent lamp) illumination. an editor/analyst monitor (see table), it’s the pany sees LED as the future The 2008 benchmark for total at Insight Media, a side story that caught our of display illumination. LED LED adoption in monitors is technology based interest as it portends a big BLU’s can be used to differ- also a safe bet as the compa- media firm specializing impact on the direction of entiate Samsung in the over- ny moves toward the higher- in large format and display illumination not just for crowded flat panel monitor end in monitor supply. micro display and LCD monitors, but the whole category—and beyond, but is In the meantime, the related industries. range of LCD panel applica- starting with high-end moni- company is building LED BLU Bob Poole shooting in tions. tors, using consistent color expertise, supply chain system Gabon, West Africa on a Samsung is aggressively quality and the extended links, and solidifying busi- National Geographic using LED technology in other color gamut to capture the ness relationships in the new Special with his Fujinon mainstream CE products. Last lucrative professional market. illumination space. From this HA25x16.5BERD (413mm) month, the company released Case in point, the company and the resulting economies HD telephoto zoom lens. a 40-inch LCD TV, which fea- includes X-rite’s LED-exclu- of scale Samsung can migrate tures a 146% color gamut sive ‘Huey Calibrator’ and the technology across its and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio Samsung Electronics’ propri- product spectrum, from small and in September showed etary ‘Natural Color Expert’ handhelds up through large a pair (46- and 55-inch) slim to maintain the color quality TVs in both flat panel and MD MDTVs. In our current issue through out the life of the based systems. By getting of Projection Monthly, we monitor in its rather pricy in relatively early they estab- reported Samsung rolling the $1800 MSRP. lish themselves (like NEC) as LED illumination technology Samsung hopes to lever- industry leaders gaining the out across its line of MDTVs in age LED benefits, first into marketing savvy and technol- 2007 (see Projection Monthly niche markets that will pay ogy benefits that only early 11-06 p. 26). the price premium over con- adoption can bring. HD 26 27 ��

Paris HiltonGoes Mobile by Harlin Hailey

aris Hilton is everywhere these days – up, especially with hot new products like whether its movies, music, television or the Mobile Video Postcard, which Moloney Pthe Internet, the world famous heiress invented. Consumers simply peruse a library continues dancing on pop culture’s cutting of Paris’ clips, choose one, then forward it on edge. Now she’s determined to conquer the to a friend’s phone for a nominal fee. “In our world’s most ubiquitous consumer product Video Postcards, Paris talks about subjects – the mobile phone. of interest to young people – everything Under the direction of award-winning

Photo by Kevin Roberts by Kevin Photo from cell phone etiquette to hot nightclubs,” filmmaker Terry Moloney, Paris recently Moloney said.” completed filming her own brand of mobile Shooting for mobile presents specific Paris Hilton and phone products, including world firsts: high issues, as quick pans or zooms tend to make Producer/Director Terry definition Video Ring-Tones and Video the picture stutter or pixilate. “Framing is Moloney on set. Postcards. everything, especially with someone like Paris Moloney says the decision to shoot in who is so luminous on camera. I framed her High Definition was a strategic one. “Given head and shoulders, using super slow zooms the size constraints of the best video-capable going in or out, and shot her against green phones, quality is still the biggest factor. For screen with Sony’s CineAlta camera,” he said. images to hold up, it’s either film or high defi- Moloney’s next project is Download nition, and thank god we went with high def,” This! – a feature film developed exclusively he says, because “we had over 100 different to premier on mobile phones and wireless spots to shoot, and with Paris’ lengthy hair, devices. “It’s a wacky sketch comedy, sort of makeup and wardrobe changes, shooting on like a Kentucky Fried Movie for the digital film would’ve killed us.” generation, which I’ll definitely shoot in HD,” While most content for phones remains Moloney smiled. HD generic, original production for the multi- Terry Moloney can be reached at: billion dollar mobile industry is ramping [email protected] or at (818) 907-7111. 28 Tech From HD to theWeb by Jama Green

by Lowell Kay n today’s marketplace where MySpace and appealing project for its pilot effort. YouTube.com rule, advertisers are looking According to Dean Kuhnlein, producer/ hd to get the most exposure out of their tradi- director and principal of Pass Left Productions, I tional advertising content. “The program was shot in high definition Budgeting Your Project’s Disk Space hdstudios, a division of Grace and Wild, because we were trying to convey a certain based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, has warmth, with rich colors and a film like quality. No matter what format you shoot, for which will shoot for six days each. From our been receiving more requests to expand Though this was going to be on the web, we economical editing you almost always have discussions I know that they are considering upon their HD services. It is not uncommon realized we had a secondary audience that to compress your data. That is done with using DV as their source and editing mate- for a broadcast commercial to be shot, trans- needs to see a high quality image on DVD.” what is called a codec (enCOder/DECoder or rial, so we know that they are going to be at ferred and edited in high definition, then The HD multi-cam shoot, directed by COmpressor/DECompressor) - Software or 3.6MBps data rate. The amount of storage is authored to DVD and converted to multiple hdstudios’ executive producer Robin Tracey, hardware that compresses and decompresses calculated like this: 3.6x3600x14x6=1.089TB of web-friendly formats. took place on location at a home in Ann audio and video data streams. Choosing a storage. This is the base level for their raw stor- In the Fall of 2006, Pass Left Productions Arbor, Michigan and featured Albom visiting codec that fits within your budget is especially age needs. Every production uses more than of Hillsborough, North Carolina, called upon with a local book club to discuss his novel. important when you have a lot of material the base storage because of several factors: hdstudios for assistance with a half hour origi- The footage was edited on an Avid HD DS nal broadband program for Borders Group. into the half hour program, then authored on or you’re shooting in HD. HD is the biggest ● There is the formatting process of the hog of disk space, which is why most editors The program, airing as a webcast on the DVD and finally to various file format conver- drives which accounts for about 6% of the HD choose to convert it to more manageable Bordersmedia.com website, was created to sions for viewing on the web. Lowell Kay is the raw disk space. coincide with the release of Mitch Albom’s founder and president codecs. The DVCPro HD codec is one that ● Every time an editor renders anything, you The completed program, as well as Flash snip- new novel For One More Day. This is the first pets, podcast, wmf and quicktime formats, can of Hollywood’s top works very well. Avid promotes the DNxHD are creating more media that has to be webcast Borders has executed for a book be found online at http://www.bordersmedia. post-production and codec which also is very friendly to disc space. stored. Essentially, you are doubling the If you’re in standard def, you might consider release, and the subject matter of this book, com/albom. motion picture film media that you altered and most editors mixed with Albom’s popularity, made this an servicing company, DV as an efficient offline Codec for DigiBeta. do not dump their old render files. The DR Group. Once you choose your compression, ● Drives do not like to be filled to their www.thedrgroup.com you need to know how many Megabytes per capacity. As you move closer to the inner 323-960-1781 second it takes to sustain that particular com- tracks of each spindle, the data coming off pression. Here are some sample data rates. of the drives slows down. Keep your drives (Video Only). at least 20% empty for best results. The Borders Book Club DV 25 3.6MBps ● If you are using a Raid with redundancy, meets in Ann Arbor to DVCPRO HD 720p 23.98 5.75MBps you need to account for the resulting loss discuss Mitch Albom’s of raw storage. DVCPRO HD 1080 29.97 14.4MBps new novel. 10 Bit NTSC SD 27.97MBps With these factors in mind, we double 10 Bit HD 1920x1080 23.98 132.58MBps our original base needs and then rent or sell that amount to our clients. You now have your 10 Bit HD 1920x1080 29.97 165.72MBps basic total for your episode disk space. 4:4:4 RGB HD 1920x1080 29.97 248.58MBps Another easy way to get the baseline To calculate storage, take the codec’s MB total is to use the AJA Data Rate Calculator per second rate and multiply by 3600 and the Application (Version 2) located at http://www. number of hours of material. This will give you aja.com/html/support_kona3_swd.html. This an approximate baseline total of disk space will quickly show you how much data will be you are going to consume for your project. consumed per hour. Remember, this will not Here is an example of how this might work: tell you the complete storage requirement, I am currently bidding a project that is a but it is a good quick reference tool that is reality-based television show. They are going easy to use.

to create 13 episodes and each episode is A web-based storage calculator can also be hdstudios of ourtesy going to have 14 hours of media per day, found at http://www.victorystudios.com/storage-

calculator/. HD c Photo 30 31 Superfor HD 16Broadcast

by David Heuring

ilmmakers who produce content for get to perform in continuity, and we can cover television work under relentless budget a lot of ground quickly. The other day we shot Fand schedule pressures. At the same six pages with a dozen speaking parts in three time, a premium is placed on achieving dis- hours.” tinctive looks that are right for the stories. Boyd frames and focuses as the actors David Boyd, ASC and Alan Caso, ASC agree begin performing to augment the feel- that advances in film and postproduction ing of reality. “We keep our eyes and ears technologies have made the Super 16 format open, which gives us an idea of where the an attractive option for producing dramatic actors might go but the things they do and series which air in HD. Boyd is shooting Friday when they do them are a continual surprise Night Lights and Caso is rendering images for to us,” says Boyd. “We are trying to recre- Tell Me You Love Me. ate the flavor of what the Maysles brothers, Boyd says the decision to shoot Friday Night Lights in Super 16 supports a documentary NBC Photo by Dean Hendler. © NBC Universal, Inc. sensibility. “We let things happen, rather than make D.A. Pennebaker, Rickey Leacock and Fred Caso shoots with ARRI SR 3 cameras them happen.” Wiseman did in Gimme Shelter and other loaded with Kodak VISION2 500T 7218 and He usually shoots Photo courtesy of Hallmark Channel Hallmark of courtesy Photo documentaries.” Kodak VISION2 200T 7217. Each episode is with three handheld ARRI The images are composed in 16x9. “If it’s created over seven days, mostly on sets at SR cameras, although in a close-up in profile, we can put the actor far CBS Radford in Studio City, California. “We (L to R): Kyle Chandler some situations he uses Top: David Boyd, ASC enough off to the left or right to not see their let things play dark, and keep the colors a and Taylor Kitsch in as many as six. Images Above: DP Alan Caso, ASC ear,” he says. “It’s just an eye, a nose and a little bit desaturated. We sometimes let things a scene from Friday are captured on KODAK on location in Thailand mouth. That stretches the frame, and you play partly in silhouette, and we let things be Night Lights,shot by VISION2 500T 7218 film. preparing to shoot a scene start to see so much more into the emotion of bright when they’re bright. We try to have DP David Boyd. Boyd says the compact for Blackbeard. what’s happening than you would otherwise.” minimal impact.” and lightweight cameras In the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me, Scenes are usually covered with two or Right: Actor Taylor Kitsch facilitate the handheld a marriage counselor tries to help neurotic three cameras interacting with the performers. (on shoulders) in a scene aesthetic. Episodes are yuppies come to grip with their relationship “The instruction to the operators is to keep from Friday Night Lights, usually produced in eight difficulties while maintaining her own love it as steady as possible because the human shot by DP David Boyd. nine-hour days and the life. Caso, who has four Emmys and an ASC body naturally introduces some movement, negative is transferred to Award on his mantle, says the show’s look which gives the frame a little bounce and life. HD with a Spirit DataCine is modeled after a John Cassavetes film. It’s We’re not trying to make it look like a docu- at Universal Digital mostly handheld. “We try to make it look like mentary by laying over a visual style. We’re Services in LA. the show is filmed in available light,” he says. just shooting it that way. It’s a concept for the “We let scenes run in “The idea is to make it feel like there is no performers as much as it is for the crew.” real time from beginning manipulation from the filmmakers whatsoever. Caso uses the Super 16 format to help to end with no rehears- Nobody has marks, and there’s minimum create a documentary feeling. “Even though als,” Boyd says. “If we instruction. Given that aesthetic, Super 16 the Super 16 stocks are terrific nowadays, we need something tighter or made perfect sense. It’s a light camera, so we let it go a little bit more contrasty and grainy more specific, we capture could work handheld quickly without being than it would be with 35 mm, which just adds that on the second or third bogged down with a lot of apparatus.” to the look of the show,” he says. HD run-through. The actors NBC Photo by Van Redin. © NBC Universal, Inc. Universal, © NBC Redin. Van by Photo NBC 32 33 Vanderpool Shoots AG-HVX200 by Brian Cali

hen challenged by the U.S. long shooting schedule and the sheer volume Department of Defense (DOD) of material to be documented, film acquisi- Wto create instructional DVDs to tion was out of the question,” said Charles promote science and technology education Vanderpool. “With the introduction of the across the country, distinguished filmmaking HVX200, we saw a unique opportunity to duo Charles and Marilyn Vanderpool chose apply this technology to the MWM project. the Panasonic AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 It has proven to be both a tremendous asset camcorder to capture this critical project in and a wonderful production tool. I was able to high definition. create custom scene files for a wide variety of As a part of the DOD’s effort to increase shooting situations.” the pool of talented American scientists “While I was initially skeptical about and engineers to fill its research labs, work- shooting video vs. film, I found that the force organization Building Engineering HVX200, set up properly, produces breathtak- and Science Talent (BEST) was brought in to ing images,” said Marilyn Vanderpool. “When spearhead efforts to improve middle and high I first saw the footage Charles had shot in a school science/technology education. BEST classroom, my reaction was that the acquired 30 to 24 on hired Vanderpool films to create a DVD series images actually looked better than the class- that would train teachers in Materials World room itself!” Modules (MWM), an inquiry-based, hands- The four DVD modules, complete with AJA KONA on learning system that uses materials (e.g. a 10-minute marketing film, will be delivered concrete, polymers, composites) to explore this month giving U.S. science teachers the by Karen Raz scientific principles. opportunity to incorporate the MWM learning “We wanted to shoot in HD for direct system into the 2007-2008 school year. HD rian J. Terwilliger was determined to ferent conversion solutions at high-end post finish in DVD. Due to budget limitations, a make a movie celebrating his love houses, and finally devised a workflow made Bof flying and the illustrious history of up of the AJA KONA card with Apple Cinema A privately owned and Southern California’s Van Nuys Airport. In Tools and the image quality far exceeded restored DC-3 turns order to lure investors, Terwilliger purchased other hardware and software solutions. The final approach onto the an Apple G5 and Final Cut Pro and set out KONA card allowed us to digitize while con- film’s namesake runway to capture, edit and finish a five-minute forming the footage at top 10-bit uncom- Charles Vanderpool ‘One Six Right.’ DVD trailer. He taught himself how to use pressed quality,” explained Terwilliger. using an HVX200 the equipment and edit in Final Cut Pro; The footage quality is astounding and to shoot a close up and soon after completing the trailer he had looks so good that Sony helped sponsor a of a student using a raised enough funding to shoot the full- 12-city HD theatrical tour where the film was microscope. length documentary feature, One Six Right. projected to audiences with Sony’s 4K projec- Terwilliger shot the film with the tor. The documentary film features thrilling Panavised Sony F900 24p camera in 1080p, aerial photography and captures the timeless with aerial photography shot on a gyro- romance of flying. mounted helicopter camera system in 30p Terwilliger is distributing the film inde- format. In just over a year, he had accumu- pendently and has sold over 35,000 DVDs lated 120 hours of HD footage. to date. One Six Right will also be the first When it came time to convert the independent film to be available in the HD native 30p aerial photography into 24p FCP DVD format. For more information, visit www. sequences to match the bulk of the footage onesixright.com. HD shot on the Sony F900, Terwilliger was afraid Karen Raz is the founder of Raz Public Relations, he had hit a roadblock. www.razpr.com, a PR firm servicing creative “The most critical problem we encoun- companies and technology developers in digital tered was when it came time to incorporate video, visual effects, post production, design our 30p and 24p footage. We tested four dif- and advertising. Photo courtesy of Vanderpool Films Vanderpool of courtesy Photo 34 35 Focused THE CONSUMER on Rush HD FRONT by Rob Faris

by DALE CRIPPS ush HD’s Focused series enters its third Steve Winter and Murray Wais. Nash says hdtv season with an astonishing look at the the HD cameras for Focused usually include Rclosed-world of extreme sports. Part of three cameras, two on-slope cameras, and the high def suite of 15 channels from VOOM always, at least one aerial camera. Still a Mystery HD Networks, Rush HD shows adventure He explains, “We shoot most of our aerial sports from around the world. In seven epi- shots handheld -- sitting on the outside of the A Frank N. Magid Associates’ Report Chairman Dick Wiley. From that union came sodes, Focused features skiers, kayakers and helicopter holding the camera in our hand, confirmed that consumers are still “confused HDTV for all of America and which has now mountain bikers exploring epic and remote sometimes there’s two of us mid-air. Or one over what HDTV is and whether it costs extra spread around the world. locations. But behind the HD cameras, the person’s in the helicopter shooting and one’s to get programming”. The study found that Civilizations grow with every advance in Focused production team equals the do-it-or- on a slope, whether on the same slope as the 47% of consumers buying an HD set now communications, but only after being assimi- die daring of the athletes they are shooting. featured skier or a different mountain where planned to watch TV programs in HD, versus lated by its people. “History has shown,” Unlike the smooth, sleek paths of they ski a different line.” 63% two years ago. Moreover, 30% of HDTV said the founder of the Society of Motion Olympic skiers, Focused is like watching the To get a shot, he says, “We’ve rappelled owners have yet to add HD service through Picture (and later Television) Engineers, “that rock ‘n roll stars of the slopes. The series fol- down Victoria Falls in Zambia with HD cam- their cable or satellite provider, and those with every increase in communications facil- lows sponsored skiers and mountain bikers, eras on our backs; strung cables between that have, complain that HD stations tend to ity there has been a corresponding increase sent to formidable terrain for photo shoots to two trees in the woods and a hang gliding occupy the farthest reaches of the channel in business volume (and to the general wel- promote sports gear. They think nothing of harness to shoot smoothly next to a mountain range (Channels 800 and up, etc.). fare)”. Sadly, whatever skiing 3000 ft. straight down, propelling them- biker; and the most horrifying thing I’ve ever The success of DTV has always depended contributes to consum- selves off any cliffs and obstacles in between. done with a camera on my back, was kayaking upon a voluntary cooperative between gov- er confusion retards this Viewers can live vicariously through through hippo pods at 4:00 a.m. Those things ernment, consumers, the consumer elec- potential advancement Focused. As executive producer of Rush HD, can kill ya.” HD tronics, broadcast, cable, satellite, and the and growth. retailing industries with each faction pulling “HDTV has the our goal is to capture the culture, the action, See Focused on VOOM’s RUSH HD available on Dale Cripps is the their own weight at just the right time. If the potential to both inspire and display a new and the characters themselves. These guys go the DISH satellite network. publisher of HDTV confusion that is cited in the Magid report is world vision.” I wrote those words twenty where no one goes! Magazine, the first A specialist in sports programming, three-time Focused is a co-production between left unchecked there is a very real threat that years ago and find them truer today than publication in the Emmy winner Rob Faris is executive producer Rush HD and Colorado-based Matchstick this holy balance could crumble. ever. The kind of programming I thought world dedicated to of Voom’s Rush HD, World Sport HD and Productions. Nate Nash co-directs the series Of the many challenges facing broadcast- would follow the vast improvement in HDTV the consumer of High Gameplay HD. with Matchstick executive producer-partners ing, the hard shut-off date (February 17, 2009) images has more than happened. All the civi- Definition programming of analog signals is the most traumatic. All TV lizations of the world are being transported and hardware, and sets dependent upon over-the-air signals and into our homes and becoming, through the the founder and without a digital capability will go dark the miracle of HDTV, familiar, understandable, president of the High end of that day. Both government and indus- even embraceable in their beauty. If there is Definition Television try tend to gloss over the idea of a block of anything more urgently needed than a widely Association of America. Shot in the foliage uneducated consumers phoning on the 18th understood and respected new world vision? hdtvmagazine@ of New Zealand, this of February 2009 to ask why their TV no lon- The world is on the brink of becoming ashes ilovehdtv.com hang-gliding set-up gets ger works. In reaction to this, an educational because of the power still emanating from smooth HD footage for program is being constructed by a combine out-of-date world views. Rush HD’s Focused. of the CEA and NAB. Stephen Hawkins said that for humanity For years I have postulated that for pur- to survive we must colonize far distant plan- poses of clarity, and in order to overcome ets. The more earthly alternative, of course, is confusion, a “unifier” is indispensable. For to fully understand: discussion purposes, let’s consider that the 1) the planet we populate, stakeholders elect an independent “Czar of 2) the nature of our humanity, and, the Digital Transition” with a courtly mission 3) the influence of the universe upon us. given to help finish it with minimal pain to all Nothing that I have seen in 67 years will sectors. That is exactly what occurred when more insure that we gain a deeper apprecia- the HDTV Grand Alliance (later called the tion of these things than will the spreading of ATSC standard) was formed under the guid- HDTV. And, don’t forget, it’s absolutely great ance of Washington Attorney and former FCC Photos courtesy VOOM HD Networks © 2006 © 2006 Networks HD VOOM courtesy Photos for football too! HD 36 37 Battleground: 38 atWaterloo. Napoleon’sarmy r o l y a T e i n n e J y b mostchallenging project ever undertaken Theeranuntawatcalled andsupport. andrequired tremendous logistical planning series.Each battle wasstaged onlocation wereemployed onall three programs inthe andeven pyrotechnic orexplosive– experts– ofHollywood technicians, actors, stuntmen theactual battlefields. grandscale that were based onthe terrain of swoopingbirds-eye views ofthe combat ona visualeffects shots from scratch, including beadded toHDand created more than 120 fulladvantage ofthe ease inwhich CGIcan Sony900series HDCams. MorningStar took Tarpiniancalls it“action adventure history.” ArtofWar newthree-part series Theanswer isMorningStar Entertainment’s withtheinfo andstory telling ofnon-fiction? W MorningStarco-founder Paninee Inorder toachieve that goal, hundreds Eachepisode wasfilmed in24P on three dramaticscenes andspecial effects theexcitement offeature film style hatdoyou get when youcombine . MorningStar. co-founder Gary BattleGroundThe– BattleGround The Art of War of Art The the programsvisceralona level”. helpedviewers connect with each ofthese theNapoleonic era. Theattention todetail theproper uniforms andexact weapons of ordertoget the perfect look, aswell as company. bytheBurbank, California-based production energytranslation ofhistory.” seriesdelivers aneffective, first person, high- said,“The sense ofrealism portrayed inthe ManagerofProgramming andAcquisitions, sandsofmen were fighting.” exclusivelyonDiscovery HDTheater. inwhich itappeared that hundreds ofthou thecase ofWaterloo, wehad to create scenes everysecond ofeach show from scratch. In mentary.Butthis also meant wehad to create tolook more like featurea film than docua anyofour shows. We wanted theprogram anystock footage oreven onestill photo in fromthebeginning. “We decided notto use lengeditself bymaking keyachoice right Tarpiniansaid that MorningStar chal “Weshot ‘Waterloo’ inRomania in Allthree JohnPence, Discovery HDTheater’s BattleGround programs air HD - - -

We’ll Change the Way You Look at Drama.

“Wonderful. Amazing. Congratulations, JVC.” – Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC Cinematographer for “24” DP for “Roswell”, “Sounder”, “Blind Faith” and “Sleepwalkers” JVC’s GY-HD110U ProHD Camcorder A Cinematic Experience Unlike Any Other.

A cinematographer must artistically capture the mood of each and every scene for the perfect cinematic experience. As the Cinematographer of the FOX hit show “24”, Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC demands a lot from his cinematography tools, and recognizes a high quality professional cinematography tool when he sees one.

Rodney recommends the lightweight, shoulder style GY-HD110U because of its interchangeable manual lenses, perfectly positioned manual controls, and the ability to shoot 24p. The camera’s compact size and HD focus assist makes shooting in confined spaces effortless, which is essential for shooting drama.

The GY-HD110U captures true native 24p to produce polished, high quality HD recordings that provide the ultimate cinematic experience.

“I spent 20 years as a documentary shooter, so features, glass and the physical build of the camera are extremely important. We tested many small HD cameras and chose JVC’s GY-HD110U because it’s a true 24p camera with interchangeable lenses. Right away JVC’s camera shined for me. You put the GY-HD110U on your shoulder and the controls are in the right place. It has a real lens – it’s absolutely amazing! It’s astounding that you can get this kind of quality for under $6,000.” – Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC Cinematographer for “24” DP for “Roswell”,“Sounder”, “Blind Faith” and “Sleepwalkers”

For information on our award-winning ProHD lineup and to empower your creative vision, call 1-800-582-5825 or visit www.jvc.com/pro.